I don't think I ever believed that was true, but they are still two of my favorite foods. Venison jerky is pretty great too, but this blog post is all about the berries.
I spent a good portion of my childhood in berry patches. During northern Minnesota summers berries grow wild everywhere. Strawberries are the first to ripen, followed by raspberries and blueberries later. Those three are the most well known, but there are also wild currants, gooseberries, dewberries, and thimble berries (and juneberries, and pin cherries...). It's a very "fruitful" state!
I spent a lot of time at my grandparents' house while I was growing up, which is where my parents live now. It's a small house with a big yard just a few miles outside Grand Marais. They had an upper and lower garden full of tame raspberry bushes that grew berries the size of quarters. There are still a few bushes there, though it has overgrown. I took this photo last summer.
There was also a big, beautiful tame gooseberry bush - which may be my favorite berry, if I had to choose. A gooseberry is difficult to describe to someone who doesn't know what they are, but they're delicious, almost like a sweet grape without any bitterness. They start out green and sour, but tame ones get big and purple-red when ripe (wild ones are smaller and dark purple).
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| Not my pic, I Googled it. |
Unfortunately my dad destroyed the gooseberry bush and most of the raspberry garden to make space to put a garage. I was pretty bummed about it for a while, but I don't hold it against him. The memory only fuels my desire to recreate the glorious bush in my own yard someday.
My folks owned a trailer court, cabins, and campground while I was growing up. We had wild strawberries growing in our front yard and wild raspberry bushes around the campground and by the frog pond on state land next door. Back behind the trailer court a road led to a couple more properties until it finally ended at state forest land - and the berry hill.
Many times each summer I would hike up to the berry hill. Strawberries and raspberries were everywhere. I would pack up a lunch, usually a sandwich and a Surge, and enjoy my fill of berries. Sometimes I would bring a container full home, but mostly I just ate them like a hungry, greedy bear. Once in a while my mom would come along and we'd pick berries to make jam.
The first plants I tried growing in a garden were strawberries. I had a little raised bed next to the pump house that supplied well water to the campground. I weeded them and took care of them for a couple years, but over time I lost interest and weeds took over. The berries they gave me were wonderful, though. There's nothing like the taste of sun-ripened fruit you've grown yourself.
These memories and many more like them are the driving force behind my goals and dreams for my future homestead. I'm going to have a berry farm. These two strawberry plants growing on my balcony are the beginning of that dream.
I like the idea of having a "pick your own" style berry farm, or at the very least have enough plants that I can bring berries to the farmer's market each week. I will have the traditional strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but also gooseberries and currants. Berries will be my primary focus because they're what I know and love most. I'm starting small and dreaming big.
Someday I'm going to be sitting outside my home, admiring my berry garden and chewing on some venison jerky from a deer I shot myself. I'll look back on this blog post with a smile. To that future me, I say congratulations! I knew you could do it.
Many times each summer I would hike up to the berry hill. Strawberries and raspberries were everywhere. I would pack up a lunch, usually a sandwich and a Surge, and enjoy my fill of berries. Sometimes I would bring a container full home, but mostly I just ate them like a hungry, greedy bear. Once in a while my mom would come along and we'd pick berries to make jam.
The first plants I tried growing in a garden were strawberries. I had a little raised bed next to the pump house that supplied well water to the campground. I weeded them and took care of them for a couple years, but over time I lost interest and weeds took over. The berries they gave me were wonderful, though. There's nothing like the taste of sun-ripened fruit you've grown yourself.
These memories and many more like them are the driving force behind my goals and dreams for my future homestead. I'm going to have a berry farm. These two strawberry plants growing on my balcony are the beginning of that dream.
I like the idea of having a "pick your own" style berry farm, or at the very least have enough plants that I can bring berries to the farmer's market each week. I will have the traditional strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but also gooseberries and currants. Berries will be my primary focus because they're what I know and love most. I'm starting small and dreaming big.
Someday I'm going to be sitting outside my home, admiring my berry garden and chewing on some venison jerky from a deer I shot myself. I'll look back on this blog post with a smile. To that future me, I say congratulations! I knew you could do it.
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